Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Visualizing My Worlds

When I started my first
novel I would get a picture in my head of a character or scene. I don’t think
that’s too unusual for a story writer, however, I would (and still do) get
“stuck” in my writing.

I discovered that if I find
an image on the internet to use as a focus, I am able to continue writing. For
example, I needed a picture of a red-headed kind of scruffy young man. I
Googled ‘red hair on a man’ and came up with lots of images. The beautiful Ewan
McGregor became the image of my character Otto Daniel in THE INK OF TIME.

Kat Von D, along with an
Asian and an African American young woman became the amalgamation of my
character, tattoo shop owner Hazel Himmel.

Nate's science fair project from junior high.

Then I went a step further.
I printed out all of the images that helped me visualize my story and attached
them to the back side of a display board we had jammed in a closet from a science
project years ago. (Sorry Nate!)

I was happily creating my
own world when one day I ran across a board on Pinterest by Author Katie
Ganshert. Apparently, either, she and I A) think alike or B) writers creating visuals to help them along is a real thing… because there it
was! A whole board dedicated to her debut novel Wildflowers From Winter.
(Now she has several more boards for her other novels- yay for her!)

I decided to create my own Pinterest board for THE INK OF TIME. It was pretty easy because I already had
so many of the pictures saved on my computer. The Pinterest board gave me the
freedom to simply “click” on an addition to my work. I’ve created a link right
here. Click the colored word Pinterest.

I have another world- and a
previously abandoned display board- that’s become my anchor for another novel. This
new story is about a group of six people trapped in an elevator during a
horrific earthquake. Think San Fran 1989 World Series Earthquake. That kind of
earthquake. The kind that destroys infrastructure and greatly limits contact
with the outside world.

Mel, Webb, Morris, Tanya, Irena, and Birdmanlive in this small, small world.

Six people. Oh, and did a
mention, a bird? A Hyacinth Macaw,
to be exact. Six people and a bird.Trapped. No outside support. All six of
these people have their own baggage and their own agendas. It’s a microcosm of
society. The weak die. The strong live. Some are givers and some are takers. People
find out what they’re made of. This story does not have a title yet. I’m only
about 6,200 words in so a title hasn’t come to me yet. I’m just calling it the
elevator story or the earthquake story. (Even my working title isn’t solid!!)

I’m a member of a Face Book writers’
group. Just this week someone in the group posted a question about characters
having favorite/important songs. Forty-some people, including myself, responded
and shared their character’s song. All
the comments were written as if the author was answering for the character. By
the way, Hazel’s song is Nothin’ from Nothin’ by Billy Preston. J

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About Me

I'm Nadine. Wife, mother, grandmother. I've been a teacher for many moons. I love to read. I think, therefore I write. Couldn't stop myself from being any of these things, even if I wanted to-- and I don't want to.